Global CONNECTIONS THAILAND, APRIL 2016

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1 Global CONNECTIONS President McRobbie presented a keynote address at the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Institute of Development Administration, the premier institution in Thailand for training business and government leaders. CONTINUING A MULTIYEAR EFFORT TO ENSURE THAT EXISTING GLOBAL CONNECTIONS THRIVE AND NEW CONNECTIONS TAKE ROOT, IU DELEGATIONS IN 2016 MET COLLEAGUES, CONFERRED WITH INSTITUTIONS, AND HONORED LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, EUROPE, LATIN AMERICA, AND SOUTH ASIA. THAILAND, APRIL 2016 National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Bangkok In the late 1940s, IU began working with academic institutions in Thailand to develop new university resources in Thailand. One outcome of that effort was a major role in the foundation of NIDA, Thailand s advanced training ground for leadership in government and industry. The IU delegation was present to celebrate its 50th anniversary. President Michael A. McRobbie shared the stage with eminent Thai statesmen for the ceremony. In a keynote address at a conference on NIDA s legacy, McRobbie spoke of IU s long association and on building IU s research and teaching capacity with a new center on Southeast Asian and ASEAN studies. Chulalongkorn University President McRobbie and Chulalongkorn University President Pirom Kamolratanakul renewed their two-decades-old partnership agreement, which has made possible scholar and research exchanges in departments across the universities. 2 IU INTERNATIONAL

2 Disnadda Diskul graduated from IU in While at IU, he was captain of IU soccer. He was awarded the Benton Medallion for his work on behalf of rural Thai farmers in the north of Thailand. Diskul heads the Doi Tung Development Project, dedicated to transforming the economy of the rural north. In Chiang Rai, several ex-opium growers told their stories of the impact the project has had on their lives. Doi Tung Development Project, Chiang Rai Among the distinguished IU alumni in Thailand is long-time IU friend, Boudin Thamthai (second from the left). The IU delegation traveled to the far north of Thailand to learn about the work of an organization that has transformed the lives of a rural population, once dependent on the opium trade, into self-sufficient communities relying on their craft expertise to produce hand-woven fabrics, mulberry paper products, and ceramics for a worldwide market. The project is currently directed by IU alumnus Disnadda Diskul, B.A. 64 in business administration. Diskul leads the Mae Fah Luang Foundation, also dedicated to improving the lives of rural villagers. Alumni Partly because of IU s long and close association with Thai institutions, IU s alumni roster boasts many distinguished Thai leaders. The IU delegation met with many of them. Boudin Tamthai, M.A.79 in East Asian languages and cultures, heads the Tamthai Foundation and has dedicated his life s work to improving education, especially for the disadvantaged. Peter Boonjarern, head of corporate access Thailand for Deutsche Bank, is president of the very large Thai IU alumni chapter. Disnadda Diskul was awarded the Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion for his efforts on behalf of those who live in rural Northern Thailand. Srapathum Palace Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has been a friend to IU for many years. In 2010, she visited Indiana University. At that time President McRobbie conferred an honorary IU doctorate on her in recognition of efforts to expand and improve public education all across Thailand. She received the IU delegation at the Srapathum Palace in Bangkok. Vice President Zaret tries his hand at spinning thread in one of the Doi Tung factories transforming the economic life of the former opium-growing region. IU INTERNATIONAL 3

3 Above: President McRobbie looks over the first-century B.C. Roman sculpture, Lottatori (wrestlers). It will be digitized in 3-D as part of IU s agreement with the Uffizi Gallery. ITALY, MAY 2016 Study abroad in Bologna In 1965, IU professor of Italian Mark Musa used his personal contacts to arrange for a group of IU students to study at the University of Bologna. Over the past 50 years, that has blossomed into the Bologna Consortial Studies Program, a cooperative effort of 15 U.S. institutions that is managed by IU. The IU delegation joined the anniversary celebration at the University of Bologna along with a large representation from the more than 1,500 IU alumni who completed the immersive Italian program. Uffizi Gallery Museum The preservation of its own visual and audio artifacts has been an important mission of Indiana University in recent years. Based on the expertise being gained from that effort, IU and the Uffizi have begun a project to compile 3-D digital images of the Uffizi s 1,250 Greek and Roman statues. The cutting-edge project drew a major article in the New York Times. Upper Right: A Medici vase being prepared for digitization Right: A grand celebration marked the 50th anniversary of one of IU s oldest and most successful study abroad programs, grown over the last half century to include a consortium of 15 universities. Bottom Right: From the left: University of Bologna President Francesco Ubertini; Kathy Sideli IU associate vice president for overseas study, and Riccardo Giovanelli, professor of astronomy at Cornell, a partner institution of the Bologna Consortial Studies Program. 4 IU INTERNATIONAL

4 R&B REUNION IN BOLOGNA, BY RYAN PIUREK Janis Russell is an IU alumna who traveled overseas for the first time as a member of the university s program in Bologna in While there, she met Michael Brusha, a student at Wisconsin who had been part of the program the year before. Brusha had formed a rhythm and blues band and needed a singer. Russell happily obliged. Today, Russell is a celebrated jazz and blues singer, who has performed for, among other luminaries, President Bill Clinton, Pope John Paul II, and Nelson Mandela. On Friday, she treated the 200 people or so gathered to celebrate 50 years of the IU Bologna Consortial Studies Program to a wonderful tune about her time in Bloomington, Indiana, and Bologna. For his part, Brusha has gone on to become a renowned musical figure himself in Bologna performing live with his band, Born to Swing, and teaching music at the Merry Melodies music school, which he also founded, right around the corner from the Bologna Consortial Studies Program office. Until this weekend, though, Russell and Brusha hadn t performed together let alone even seen each other since their earliest days in his band. The performance was impromptu Russell didn t know Brusha had been invited to play. POLAND, MAY JUNE 2016 Jagiellonian University IU s partnership with one of the oldest universities in Europe (founded in 1364) began in It has produced faculty exchanges in many disciplines, including music, Slavic languages and literature, and law. The two universities, along with the University of Warsaw, mount a biennial conference dedicated to examining the policies and practices of criminal law and procedure throughout the world. The visit of the IU delegation was the occasion for signing a renewal of this agreement. University of Warsaw IU s partnership with the University of Warsaw began in the midst of the Cold War. It produced the American Studies Center in Warsaw (ASC), one of the largest such centers in Europe, and the Polish Studies Center in Bloomington. The IU delegation was on hand at the Kazimierz Palace on the Warsaw campus to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the ASC. President McRobbie and Rector Marcin Pałys signed a renewal of the friendship agreement. McRobbie presented the Benton Medallion to Palys. The two universities launched the Krzysztof Michalek Memorial Lecture in American Studies in honor of a former director of ASC in Warsaw and associate director of Polish studies in Bloomington. IU Professor of History John Bodnar delivered the first lecture on Muddled Memories of the The Good War. Senior officials at Jagiellonian University and IU agreed to extend and expand their productive partnership. IU INTERNATIONAL 5

5 POLIN, Museum of the History of Polish Jews Located in the heart of Jewish Warsaw an area which the Nazis turned into the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II POLIN is a young museum. Founded in 2013, its core collection tracing the long history of Jewish life in Poland opened in Its director, Dariusz Stola, has visited Bloomington to explore collaboration with IU s Polish Studies and Jewish Studies programs. In Warsaw, SGIS Dean Lee Feinstein signed an agreement creating a summer internship for IU Bloomington undergraduates. The POLIN Museum and IU are exploring varied areas of collaboration. Left: Krzysztof Penderecki, Poland s premier composer of secular and religious music, much of it experimental and all of it challenging, met with President McRobbie to discuss a visit to Bloomington next year during which members of the IU Jacobs School of Music will perform his work. Right: President McRobbie presents the Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion to Marcin Palys, rector of the University of Warsaw. ON THE GROUND Ryan Piurek, interim assistant vice president for public affairs and presidential communications, provides detailed, illustrated narratives of the delegation visits in his blog On the Ground. IU Goes to Thailand: global.iu.edu/blog/thailand-2016/ IU Goes to Italy and Poland: global.iu.edu/blog/italy-poland-2016/ 6 IU INTERNATIONAL

6 MEXICO, SEPTEMBER 2016 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) IU units have partnered with UNAM since 1999 when the Ostrom Workshop began cooperative efforts to investigate the management and preservation of forests (which cover almost three-fourths of the country). In a visit last fall, President McRobbie and Vice President Zaret discussed expanding exchanges to include undergraduate and faculty exchanges and expanding areas of existing collaboration. Like the Ostrom Workshop, the physics department has undertaken cooperative research with UNAM colleagues. Faculty in anthropology and the languages of Mexico and Central America have had informal arrangements for many years. IU is currently investigating shortterm study abroad opportunities at UNAM for IU students. Alumni The visit to Mexico began with the opening of a new IU alumni chapter in Mexico. It will provide a focus for the nearly 500 IU alumni there, many of whom hold leadership positions in business and media. INDIA, OCTOBER 2016 Ambedkar University Delhi Established in 2007, Ambedkar University was mandated as a public university to focus on research and teaching in the social sciences and humanities. IU Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel traveled to Delhi to sign an agreement that includes, initially, a joint research symposium and faculty and student exchanges at all levels. Top: President McRobbie confers with Enrique Graue Wiechers, president of UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Bottom: Senior IU officials, including President McRobbie and Vice President Zaret, talk with members of IU s new alumni chapter in Mexico. Sharing alumni memories of their time in Bloomington and hearing of their successes since graduation are important parts of just about every visit abroad. O. P. Jindal Global University IU s partnership agreement has led to exchanges and other activities with the Maurer School of Law and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Provost Robel presented a public lecture on the Liberal Arts in a Global Environment. Above: Provost Lauren Robel with Professor Shyam B. Menon of Ambedkar University Delhi IU INTERNATIONAL 7